five bold predictions for the OKC Thunder this season
By Alex Mcewen
The OKC Thunder will play themselves out of the Victor Wembanyama Sweeps
In the NBA, the worst-kept secret is Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson, the current consensus number one and two picks for the 2023 NBA Draft. Last year, the Thunder’s quest for a high draft pick was successful as they secured the number-two overall pick which they later used to select Chet Holmgren.
Despite Holmgren being set to miss the entire season, Oklahoma City still has more talent than they did last season. Between their incoming rookie trio of Jalen Williams, Ousmane Dieng, and Jaylin Williams along with improvements from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, and company.
Oklahoma City will be in a tight spot this upcoming season because unless more injuries occur the Thunder could play their way out of the bottom.
OKC could surprise this season, either for better or worse. It is too early to be positive. I’m going with too good for another top-two pick and not good enough for the final play-in spot. Even If they do not receive more lottery luck, their future is still bright. Whatever happens over the next eight months, they will add the 2022 second-overall pick to their lineup to start training camp next September.
Editors note: 3, I think the OKC Thunder will finish anywhere from the bottom 5 to 10 so they will need to rely on NBA Draft Lottery luck. The good news is, the 2023 NBA Draft is incredibly deep, I have talked to people around the league that think there are seven or eight names in this draft that could end up being a top-three player within an NBA organization.